ALMATY (KazInform) – The former President of of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev (Yelbasy), spoke about what the country has done for the development of the transport and logistics infrastructure. He pointed out that Kazakhstan has become the main gateway to continental trade in Eurasia.

Nazarbayev said:

We have handled all the transport and logistics challenges. The implementation of the Nurly Zhol Program is nearing completion. During this period of time, we have built and reconstructed roads totalling 12,500 km. This program will be completed in 2021, and we will build 17,000 km of roads. Then, we will proceed with intraregional roads. The highways we couldn’t even dream of have been placed in service.

According to Yelbasy, Kazakhstan built 2,500 km of railways, renovated all airports in Kazakhstan, and constructed two state-of-the-art seaports in the Caspian Sea.

Nazarbayev added:

Integrating the Nurly Zhol Program with the Belt and Road Initiative made it possible to strengthen Kazakhstan’s transit potential as a flourishing economic sector. We are a country living inland; we do not have access to the sea. Now freight shipments to Europe from China through Kazakhstan and back takes four times less time than by sea. Last year alone, revenue from transit reached $1.5 bln. When everything is built, Kazakhstan will gain $5 bln per year for transit alone. Could we imagine 30 years ago that we will have direct access to the markets of Europe, the Asia-Pacific region? Certainly not!